Honors College Plan Detailed

Florida Atlantic University officials have unveiled details for a proposed liberal arts honors college at a time when its chief proponent in the Legislature may have lost clout to push it through.

The college would be in Broward County, 10 to 30 miles from FAU`s main campus in Boca Raton.

The college would be ``dedicated to the intellectual development of undergraduate students and . . . place little or no emphasis on career training,`` a report says.

Instead, the report says, the college will offer ``the kind of broad educational opportunities that will enable students to make critical value judgments on the various issues confronting modern society.``

The college, to be administered by FAU, would be modeled after New College, a liberal arts college in Sarasota that is administered by the University of South Florida.

It would have a maximum of 400 students, high admission standards such as a 1200 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test, and a student-teacher ratio of no more than 10-to-1, according to the report, produced by former FAU Humanities College Dean Jack Suberman.

The plan comes, however, at a time when the college`s chief proponent, state Sen. Ken Jenne, D-Hollywood, may have lost the Senate presidency to a conservative coalition of Democrats and Republicans led by John Vogt, D-Cocoa Beach.

A Senate organizational meeting Nov. 18 will determine whether Vogt has wrested the leadership post away from Jenne, who had the necessary votes until the Nov. 4 election eliminated several Democrats who had supported him.

A Jenne ally, state Sen.-elect Eleanor Weinstock, D-Palm Beach, said Jenne would be a power regardless of the outcome, and that a state Board of Regents study would be instrumental in the final decision.

``It`s an idea that has some merit, and I think it will be considered on its own,`` said Weinstock, whose district extends from West Palm Beach to Pompano Beach.

``Broward is a very important large county in the state, and you can make a good case for an institution of some sort within it,`` Weinstock said.

Dollars and need -- not who leads the Florida Senate -- will play a key part in the recommendation, Board of Regents member Robin Gibson said about the college. The proposed institution has been kiddingly dubbed ``KJU`` by opponents, in reference to Jenne`s strong support of the idea.

``The Legislature is going to get our best judgment based on educational merit,`` said Gibson, who chairs a committee that is studying higher education for Broward County. ``It`s going to be the same if Senate leadership is Democrat, Republican or a mixture.``

``If there are political considerations in the solution it`ll have to come from the politicians,`` Gibson said. ``It won`t come from the Board of Regents.`` The board sets policy for the state university system.

About $7 million in start-up money for the college was allotted late in the 1986 legislative session, at a time when Jenne had enough pledges to claim the presidency of the Senate for 1987 and 1988.

Gov. Bob Graham, however, vetoed the college funds and asked for a report on it from the Board of Regents. Gibson said it would be considered by the regents on Jan. 19 so that the Legislature can decide on financing in 1987.

A hearing on the college and higher education in Broward County is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 20 in a conference room of the west terminal at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

The difference between the Broward situation and New College in Sarasota is that the college already existed when the state took it over, Gibson said. In addition, private money provides a hefty percentage of its operation.

``Whatever we do in Broward County will be from scratch,`` Gibson said. Whether students in the area would really benefit from the college is another unknown, he said.

``My first thought is the top 5 to 10 percent (of each class) doesn`t have a shortage of places to go,`` Gibson said.

Suberman`s report said the need is there.

``It would offer to those Florida residents a realistic and affordable opportunity for a liberal arts education usually associated with small, expensive private schools, and as its reputation grows it will attract students from outside the community and the state,`` the report said.

The estimated cost to acquire land, plan, build and equip the college is about $28 million. That does not include dormitories, which would require $5.75 million in state bond issue funds and private money.

Beginning enrollment in 1989 would be 125 students, the plan says, projecting that 400 students, the maximum, would be enrolled by the fourth year. The school`s operating budget at that time would be $4 million.